


All For One

by orphan_account



Category: Septic egos, jacksepticeye
Genre: Angst, Corruption, Family, Gen, Magic, Memory Alteration, Mind Control, Mystery, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24476419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Something has gone wrong with Jackie, something willing and capable of ripping apart his family. The question is, will he be able to figure it out and stop it before it does what it intends to do? After all, it's difficult to fight someone that's already in your head.
Kudos: 13





	1. 0

Never had he been so happy to hear the grating screech of his alarm clock.

Never so grateful for it's scream stealing him from sleep.

Never feeling so lucky that the old hunk of junk on his bedside always seemed to go off earlier than intended.

Because it had saved him from the worst nightmare of his life.

Jackieboy lay in a tangled mess of sheets, matted green hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. His breathing was ragged, and usually bright blue eyes were wild, clouded over with whatever horrors sleep had shown him.

The sheets were wrapped tight around his limbs and chest, like shackles keeping him from leaving the bed that had been his prison these past eight hours.

Upon realizing he was restrained, instinct kicked in, and he began to radiate royal blue light. It flowed from his eyes and shifted in waves around his form. With an entirely unnecessary amount of superhuman strength, he tore his arms free from their bonds, ripping the cloth to shreds.

No, he won't let the strings have him anymore!

Not again!

Eyes without even a drop of lucidity widened in fear at the thought.

Any scrap of fabric that even slightly hindered his movement was destroyed, until his delusions faded and reality came to him at last.

He was... home.

Bright morning light was spilling through the window, lighting up the soft green of the walls. Movie posters and newspaper clippings lined the walls, and dirty clothes formed a sort of second carpet across the bedroom floor. He heard the drone of the TV and the murmur of conversation just down the hall from his door. His brothers.

Panting, he looked down at himself, half expecting to see his jumpsuit, but instead finding a pair of jogging pants and a baggy t-shirt hanging off his shaking body, ripped and drenched in sweat stains.

No chains. No cuts. No... glitch.

The hero collapsed back onto his ruined bed with a sigh, the revelation causing his previous rush of adrenaline to subside into a wave of exhaustion. None of it had been real. It was all just a nightmare. A horrible nightmare.

It was hard to believe, all of it had felt so real.

He could remember the colours so vividly, the green, the blue, the... red. The sounds of scraping metal and static were so fresh in his mind he could probably mimic their pitch. He could still taste the sourness of the imagined air.

It seemed so real in fact, that he swore he could still feel every injury the glitch had inflicted on him; his whole body ached like it was bruised, and on his wrists he could feel phantom strings digging into his skin.

With a shudder, he curled further in on himself and rubbed at his arms. What could've prompted that? He hadn't had a bad dream like that for months, he'd even started to have good ones! But then out of the blue it was like he was right back in August again. He thought he was finally done with this, thought he had gotten better. Turns out he was still weak.

Tears pricked threateningly at the backs of his eyes, but he caught them, held them back, and forced a deep breath into his lungs.

No. He had to be better. He couldn't fall apart like this again, or he would be useless when the demon returned. He wouldn't be able to protect anyone if he cried over a dream. He wouldn't be able to keep them safe.

Laughter bubbled from down the hall, almost as if to emphasize his last thought. He trained his gaze on his bedroom door, expression still fearful, but now also determined. He had to protect them, he wouldn't let that laughter fall silent like it had before. He would be strong for all of them.


	2. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A perfect morning, for a little while.

"We should just get a new one."

"No, we don't need to. It works, just gimme a sec!"

"I agree with Marvin, it's unsalvageable! You're going to cut your fingers off with that thing."

Chase scoffed, reaching across the counter for more strawberries.

"You guys are just wimps. You just gotta jimmy it a little."

The doctor and the magician watched warily as he crammed the extra fruit into the already filled blender. It took quite a bit of "jimmying" to get it to close, with him having to slam the lid down with his fist a few times. Even then, not all of it remained inside, as gooey bits of banana and berry juice squeezed their way between the lid and it's walls.

The vlogger paid it no mind though, as he gave the top one final smack for good measure. He pressed the power button without hesitation, and the others winced.

Nothing.

He pressed it again. Still nothing. A frustrated frown crossed his face.

Marvin laughed a little behind him.

"Hey, maybe it finally died. Good riddance."

He gave it another good slap before jamming his finger into the button a few more times.

Oh no... he did not want to spend his already sparse revenue on replacing the blender.

"There is probably just too much fruit, take some out. Why did you even put that much in there?" Henrik asked.

"One of the dudes I film with said he didn't have time to grab any breakfast this morning, so I said I'd bring him something."

Chase was still spamming the power button, which was starting to become warm from the stress on the spinning blades.

"Could you not have just made the two separately?"

"Nah, that'd take too long."

Some unsafe-sounding groans started to come from the appliance as Chase continued to abuse the button.

With a sigh, Marvin used his magic to stop Chase's hand middair, freezing it in place and covering the skin with a faint green glow. At first surprised, he gave it a yank, and then gave the magician a dirty look when he realized what had happened.

"Give it up. It's gonna explode if you keep that up."

"I gotta leave in like 20 minutes, come on man, let me go."

He gave another tug at his arm, but the magicians power didn't falter.

"You can grab some toast or something, I am not helping clean up whatever mess you're gonna make with that thing."

"No! That'll get cold before I can give it to Dave!"

The two continued to squabble, leading Shneep to huff loudly in annoyance. That was his cue. He stood to put his breakfast dishes in the sink before taking his coffee to the living room. Best to leave before the war started.

As he walked in, he noticed Jameson was laying on the sofa, hitting buttons on the TV remote. His lips were pursed in concentration.

When he saw the doctor, he sat up from his reclined position to make room for him.

"Quite a scuffle I was hearing!" A title card read, shining middair a few feet from the mute.

Shneep smiled as he read it and sat himself down next to him.

"Yeah, I am just glad I got out early."

"Who do you think will win this one? I'd wager Marv myself."

The doctor chuckled.

"You know I love Chase, but I will never EVER bet on him."

Jamie's lit up with silent giggles.

"I'm ashamed to say I feel the same!"

Henrik took another sip of coffee, before setting his mug down on the coffee table and turning to the TV. He looked to his watch. There were a few more minutes before he had to go to work, so why not watch something? He looked to Jamie, who had returned to fiddling with the remote, a frustrated scowl trained on the device.

"Are you having any more luck with that thing?"

The mute sighed, slightly embarrassed.

"No, I can't seem to get the damn thing to do what I want! I pressed all the required buttons, I'm sure!"

Shneep turned and squinted back at the the static filled screen, noticing a green 2 glowing in the corner.

"I think it is in the wrong input."

Jamie frowned, then hit the small button on the corner before hitting power once again. The screen in front of them lit up with the cooking channel.

He looked down sheepishly. He had been getting better, but every now and then he still needed help with modern tech. It was embarrassing.

"Ah... apologies, I was certain had done it correctly..."

Henrik smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"No worries, everyone in this house has done that at least once. I did it myself last week!"

The two went flipping through shows for a few minutes, eventually settling on a documentary about something or other. It wasn't that it wasn't interesting enough for them to care what it was about, it was the fact that the battle raging in the kitchen was getting much more heated. Muffled insults and shuffling were drowning out most of the important information.

"Asshole!"

"You're being stupid, just leave it be! "

"No! Fuck you, I'm gonna be late!"

At first turning up the volume was enough to counter it, but as time went on, it only got louder and louder, until Shneep had had enough.

"Will they ever shut up?!" He cried, exasperated.

"Do you think we should check on them?"

Jamie asked, concerned. He started leaning forward to try to see what was happening in the other room.

Henrik pinched the bridge of his nose and stood.

"No, no, I'll deal with it. I have to put this away before I leave, I have to go in anyway." He sighed, grabbing his empty mug from the table.

Jamie sat back down, eyeing the doctor sympathetically.

"Alright, suit yourself. Good luck!"

After giving their youngest one final smile, he turned and stomped his way to the kitchen.

He was not fully prepared for what he found there.

Chase was still beside the blender, but now instead of just his hand being trapped, he was being magically suspended off the ground by both of his arms and a leg. His last free limb was flailing wildly in the direction of the blender.

Marvin was now standing, using both of his hands to hold the other in place with his magic. He had bits of chopped fruit on his clothes and in his hair.

The entire room was a pigsty; the already messy contents of the counter had been spread over the floor, the table, and the rooms two occupants. Bits of banana and strawberry everywhere. The whole kitchen was giving off a sweet fruity scent because of it.

Both Chase and Marvin's faces had been exchanging death glares, but upon seeing the doctors own scary expression, they softened with fear. If looks could kill, they would be VERY dead.

"What on earth are you two doing?!"

A shameful silence swept over the room. Chase was the first to speak. Still hanging in the air, he pointed his one foot accusingly towards the masked magician.

"He was making me late for work! So I uh... threw a piece of fruit at him..."

Marvin scoffed.

"A piece? Try several pieces, on my new shirt!"

He held out a particularly filthy part of his button up as evidence.

"It wasn't cheap either!"

Henrik sighed heavily.

"I thought I was living with adults, not children."

Marvin stiffened.

"It's not childish to be upset about-"

Shneep cut him off

"Let him go for fuck's sake..."

Marvin huffed and rolled his eyes dramatically before unceremoniously dropping Chase.

He yelped as he tumbled to the hard laminate floor. He landed pretty hard, sprawling on his stomach. His cap had fallen off his head. As he retrieved it he grumbled some colourful words for the magician.

"Which one of you idiots is going to clean this up?"

The vlogger stood up and brushed himself off, while Marvin started dabbing at his shirt with a paper towel.

"I can't do it! I have to go film! I'm already late cus of this asshole." Chase said.

Marvin glared at him.

"Well I'm not doing it! It's not my job to clean up your mess!"

"Jesus you guys! What's all the yellin' about?"

The three looked over to see a very ragged Jackieboy standing in the entrance to the room.


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie tries to move on with his morning.

Whatever shouting match had been going on, died as soon as he walked in. Three pairs of blue eyes stared at him in shock. Was it that obvious? He plastered on a smile and pulled his housecoat tighter around his waist, trying to hide his clothes. Maybe he should've changed into something else. 

"Wow... you look like shit." Marvin blurted out, the other two shot him dirty looks. 

Jackie snorted.

"Gee, thanks. Good morning to you too."

It was true though. He may have been smiling, but the bags under his eyes betrayed that he was exhausted. His skin was paler than usual, and his hair was sweaty and sticking up in every direction. Shneep frowned worriedly.

"What was going on? Sounded like you were killing each other." Jackie asked.

"It was nothing but a silly argument, but Marvin is right, you look awful. Are you alright?"

The doctor's tone held none of the frustration from before. This was the voice he normally used with his patients.

Jackie cringed. Jesus, it was just a dream, get it together.

"Oh yeah, I'm good. Got in late is all." He tried to stand up straighter, but his back was aching a lot for some reason.

Before Shneep could question him again, he changed the subject and pushed past him. His eyes widened in disbelief when he got a better view of the room.

"Holy shit." He finally noticed the fruity carnage that coated everything in sight.

"Chase, did your blender finally die?"

The vlogger's concerned expression fell into one of annoyance.

"No. god, you guys always assume the worst. This was actually Marvin's fault, so-"

"MY FAULT?!"

Jackie winced, ooh he had a headache.

"HEY! We are NOT starting that again!" The doctor exclaimed.

They both glared at Shneep.

"Well what am I supposed to do? I need to get food for Dave and-" Chase started, but the good doctor cut him off again.

"Get something on the road! You already said you are going to be late."

Chase looked like he was about to argue again, but then the clock on the microwave caught this eye.

He turned, muttered a quick "fuck", and ran out the door. Still grumpy, but satisfied at his "victory" over the vlogger, Marvin sat back down and started working at his shirt again. Henrik smiled at the bedraggled hero apologetically.

"I'm sorry Jackie, we should have known you were still sleeping, that was far too much noise."

The hero yawned again and scratched the back of his head

"It's cool man, I should be up anyways."

He walked further into the kitchen as he spoke, and started rifling through the fridge. The doctor's worry spiked when he saw that he was walking with a slight limp.

"You are sure you're alright Jackie?"

"I'm good Hen, just a late night."

Henrik sighed. Liar.

"If you say so. How did your patrol go last night?"

"Oh uh... it was alright. Nothin' really happened, so it was actually kind of boring."

"Well boring is surely better than riddled with crime."

"I guess yeah."

"What time did you get in?"

Closing the fridge with an orange in hand, Jackie stared forward for a moment, a puzzled expression crossing his face. He quickly shrugged it off though.

"Um... I'm not sure. Probably sometime around midnight."

"It must have been quite a while after midnight, I didn't even see you when I turned in."

"What time was that?"

Shneep looked down sheepishly.

"It was 2:15 I believe."

Jackie's eyebrows flew up.

They had both been long known as the night owls of the house, but even for him, that was pretty bad.

That wasn't all though.

He was starting to discover that the more he tried to think about last night, the more alarmingly apparent his lack of memory of that time became. He didn't remember actually coming home at all, or anything after 10:00 for that matter. Did something happen? Had he passed out or something? Had someone helped him? Hurt him? His head was spinning.

"Oh jeez... I guess I'll have an extra coffee today then. You know how it is doc."

He sat down at a part of the table that had minimal fruit guts on it, across from a still very peeved Marvin. After peeling open his orange, he made an attempt to change the subject again.

"Anyways... how've you been Marv? Anything new you've been practicing?"

The magician looked up from his stained clothes at first with annoyance, knowing Jackie just wanted an out from the other conversation, but after seeing the tired and half desperate look in the hero's eyes, his face softened. Maybe he could let him off the hook just this once.

He began recounting one of his latest experiments, adding dramatic hand gestures and tossing sparks into the air to try to brighten the mood.

It was pretty neat, and Shneep probably would've told him that, if he was not so busy inspecting his more disheveled looking brother. Despite the uneventful night the hero claimed he had, the doctor was beginning to notice what looked like bruises under the loose collar fabric of his housecoat. They were fairly fresh-looking, dark purples, and blues seeming to jump right out at him.

"...And so that's when I would've brought the fire out, but the smoke that particular one gives off is highly flammable, I would've singed my eyebrows off!" Marvin explained.

"Well, what did you do?" Jackie asked.

The other smirked

"I figured something out. Watch this."

The magician then gestured to his hand. He held up it and stared at it intensely for a few seconds before a small plume of green fire appeared in his palm. It gave off decent heat despite its size.

Jackie watched intently as he then set the flames down on the wooden table, without leaving any scorches or ash.

"Voilà!"

Jazz hands.

The hero laughed a bit at the theatrics. He reached his hand towards the spell, holding it over the flame.

"That's really cool man, you've gotten really good at this stuff!"

Marvin smiled. It seemed the spark had returned to Jackie's eyes, at least a little, but even that little bit was enough for the magician.

"Thanks. You can touch it if you want, it shouldn't be too hot."

Jackie cautiously scooped his hand through the fire, relieved and amused when he found that it did nothing more than tingle as it danced on the back of his hand. He was right, it wasn't hot, just warm. Though with a bulky housecoat on, it was a little too warm being this close; he was starting to sweat.

"Whew! One sec."

He stood briefly, brushing the magic off his arm and then opening up his coat up. When he sat down he noticed the mood had shifted drastically; The flames were out and it was dead quiet, two concerned stares burning into him. What were they-

He looked down.

"Jackie..."

Shit.

The torn, sweaty t-shirt he wore did not cover the bruises that covered his neck, leaving them right out in the open for his brothers to see. There were also small red stains blossoming all over his shirt that he hadn't noticed before.

What the fuck... Where did those..?

He coughed awkwardly before sloppily throwing the coat back around him, trying to slow his breathing.

"Oh uh... yeah. Don't worry about that."

"Jackie."

How was he going to get out of this? What even happened? He felt hot and his heart was pounding.

"I... it's- they're just from a few nights ago, I'm okay I promi-"

"Jackieboy! Stop, please."

Henrik shouted, snapping Jackie back out of his head. There was a solid beat of silence that hung in the air. It was hardly disturbed by the quiet apology that fell out of Jackie's mouth.

"I'm... sorry."

The doctor pulled Jackie into a gentle hug, rubbing circles into his back, while over his shoulder he ushered Marvin quickly out of the kitchen. Jackie did not need an audience, and this was already more than awkward for the magician, he felt awful, but he knew was never very good at this stuff. He nodded solemnly and scurried into the living room.

"...it is okay, but please, let me help you."

After Henrik pulled away, he could see tear tracks staining Jackie's face as he stared down at the floor.

He fidgeted with the torn ends of his sleeves, arms folded tight to his body. His breathing was deep, but too fast, he was barely keeping himself together.

"Do you need a minute, or do you want to go talk about this somewhere else?"

He asked softly.

The hero hesitated before nodding stiffly, then the good doctor led him to the bathroom to patch him up, both physically and mentally. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be a quick fix either.


	4. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patching up.

Jackie grimaced as Henrik secured the last of his arm in gauze.  
It stung, though not as much as it usually did; today the doctor was being especially gentle. While that was soothing to his skin, it left the hero’s ego bruised; he shouldn’t need the baby treatment.  
Nonetheless, he was grateful for his brother’s kindness, so he stowed away his shame and gave him a smile.

“Thank you Hen, for everything.”

The doctor flinched as he stood to meet his gaze, surprised at the sudden breach of silence, but then smiled warmly.  
“No problem, it is what I am for!”

They shared a short hug before Henrik pulled back, a sadder smile on his face now.

“There is something I would like to ask you though Jackie, if you are comfortable.”

The hero squirmed a bit at that, already knowing what was coming.

“Yeah?”

“I have a feeling that the source of these injuries is not… nice for you to think about, but knowing that is something that will help me treat them better.”

Welp there it is, Jackie thought ruefully to himself, did you really think that wouldn’t come up at some point? His eyes fell back to the tile floor and his hands knit together in his lap.

“The thing is… I don’t um… remember. Where I got them.”

The doctor’s eyebrows flew up, but he tried to keep a neutral expression. He glanced at the hero’s temples, trying to check for bruising. Potential head trauma. Not good.

“Are you sure you remember nothing? Even a little snippet is useful.”

Jackie bit the inside of his lip. Shit, should he say? Shneep was already wearing kid gloves, and complaining of a nightmare was a pretty wimpy thing to do.  
He tried to reason himself out of it, but there was an itch at the back of his mind that he couldn’t ignore. It had felt so real, what if it was? 

“Well I… I maybe… it’s not…”

“Anything at all Jackie, if you will.”

He swallowed thickly. Fuck it.

“There was a nightmare. This morning before I woke up.”

Shneep blinked incredulously.  
“A nightmare? What about?”

“I uh… I got hurt. It’s probably stupid, but some of the bruises are in the same spots and I thought-”

“No no, this is not stupid! Maybe you remember in the form of a dream? Can you think of any people or things that hurt you?”

Wow, he was really doing this huh?

“It’s all kinda fuzzy now, but I was restrained. Somebody hit me a bunch… I think with something metal. Like a bat.”

The doctor creased his brow and nodded.  
“That is consistent with what I saw… anything else?”

“Erm… well it was dark. And loud.”

“Okay, but was there anything else you think might relate to what happened to you?”

Jackie glued his eyes to the floor. He shouldn’t.

“I… Anti. He was there… but that’s probably nothing right?”

He did.

The instant that left his mouth, heavy silence fell over the bathroom.  
Shneep’s grip loosened and the hero thought he might get up and leave, but then he gave his hands a reassuring squeeze and met his eyes. 

“I see. Do you want to… discuss?”

The doctors face was paler, but his face still held it’s gentle smile.  
Jackie shook his head hurriedly, looking back at the floor. 

“Let’s just drop it. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, you didn’t upset me Jackie. You know that, yes?”

“... I still shouldn’t’ve-”

“ You were right to. I did ask, and it is good I know now. ”

He released Jackie’s hands to continue with bandaging him.

“I need to know what is wrong to make it right.”

The hero didn’t respond after that other than a few more muted apologies, and he kept eye contact to a minimum, so Henrik was able to finish up pretty quickly.  
By the time he was done, Jackie looked a bit like a mummy; both arms, his chest and abdomen, and his right leg were completely wrapped up.   
The doctor was still worried, though not so much about the injuries anymore. 

He helped him hobble out to the living room where Jameson was fussing with the couch cushions. Marvin sat awkwardly across from him in an armchair, seeming to have been waiting for them.

Upon seeing the two enter, the gentleman greeted them with a sympathetic smile.

“Ah Jackieboy! I hear you’re feeling under the weather, are you alright?” His slide read.

Jackie was quick to flash him a wide but unconvincing smile  
“Yeah I’m ok, just a little banged up is all.”

Jamie nodded. He gestured the small nest of pillows he had made in the corner of the couch.

“I’ve made a place for you here, if you’d like.”

“Oh. Thanks JJ, that’s really nice of you, bu-”

The hero was about to decline politely, hoping he could escape to his room to avoid the embarrassment of being babied, but Shneep was still the one supporting him, and he steered him down into the cushions before he could protest. He hunched sheepishly into the couch.

Jamie looked down at him expectantly.

“Thanks.” He mumbled.

The gentleman smiled, pleased with his work.

“Is there something else it needs? I could always fetch another pillow.”

“No no, its great.”

An awkward silence blanketed the group suddenly, everyone wanting to ask questions no one wanted to answer.

“Well uh… yes. I am very late. If you are all set up here then I should be going, call me if you need anything.”

Shneep said hurriedly, glancing at his watch. He made his way to front hall, threw on a jacket, and left.

In the wake of the slammed door, it was quiet again. The other two looked to the hero, seeming to be choosing words they thought would work best in these next few uncomfortable minutes.

“So… are you okay?” Marvin asked. Even behind his mask, Jackie could see his brow creased in worry. 

Dammit Henrik, Jackie thought, just gonna leave me here alone to explain this? His hands fidgeted in his lap.

“Just a bit of a hard night last night, got a little beat up. Shneep thinks I might’ve hit my head, so I guess I’m supposed to sleep it off today.”

“Really? How’d that happen? Usually no one can put much of a dent on you.”

“That’s the thing; I don’t... fully remember. I’m just supposed to chill out and see if anything else comes back to me until tonight.”

“Oh.”

The silence continued, less awkwardly this time however, as one of Jameson’s speech slides appeared suddenly between them.

“Well then, I suppose we’ll be keeping you company today! Can’t have you just moping around all foggy-headed, can we?”

“That was the plan.” Jackie said ruefully, huffing as he adjusted himself to a more comfortable position.  
“I can’t really do anything except sleep, so you guys can go on with whatever, I’m fine here.”

Marvin scoffed.  
“Jackie, do you really think we’re just gonna leave you all sad on the couch all day? I don’t think I’ve been that much of a dick before, jeez.”

That got a genuine smile out of the hero.

“It’s okay, Shneep says I’m not supposed to do much anyways.”

Marvin rolled his eyes.  
“Come on, you know ‘Mother Hen’ can get a little carried away with his doctor’s orders sometimes. We can play some games and stuff if you want.”

Jackie hesitated for a moment before conceding. If he was being honest, it would be nice to take his mind off things for a little while.

“You know what? Yeah. I would get kinda bored here all by myself, let’s do something.” 

Jameson clapped his hands and grinned.

“Splendid! What kinds of activities were you thinking of?”

Jackie hummed as he looked around the room, trying to think of something. At last his eyes landed on the cabinet below the TV, and a wry smile spread slowly across his face.

“Well I could go for a few rounds of Smash, if you don’t mind me kicking your asses.”

Marvin flashed him a playful smirk, and Jamie giggled to himself.

“Okay asshole, you’re on!” The magician said.

He snatched 2 controllers from the dock and tossed one to the hero, before going to take his place next to him on the couch. He was surprised when he saw Jameson plop down right beside him, controller in hand.

“Oh J, you wanted to play too? Shit, I didn’t really ask.”

The gentleman waved him off, mischief dancing in his eyes.

“It’s quite alright, I don’t usually participate, but Mister Brody has been giving me lessons as of late.”

Jackie and Marvin glanced at each other in disbelief, but went ahead and started up the game. Sure enough, Jameson navigated through the character menus with no issue, sitting ready with a big smile on his face.

Jackie piped up before the match started.  
“Don’t you want someone higher tier? Might make it easier for you.”

Jameson’s smile didn’t waver as he shook his head. 

“I think I’ll fare just fine as I am.”

The hero shrugged.

“If you’re sure.”

The match went standardly at the start; with Marvin and Jackie endlessly ragging on each other, but the gentleman was right about holding his ground. He knocked both of them off the stage quite a few times, and skillfully evaded their shots at him.  
It was almost a stalemate for the longest time, until Marvin messed up and blocked too late.   
Jackie wasted no time in knocking him out for the last time. The magician grumbled and gently elbowed him, but the hero only laughed and set his sights on their youngest.

“I hope you know I’m not goin’ easy on you Jamie.”  
He said coyly.

A speech slide flickered faintly just below the screen in response;

“Naturally.”

Jackie stuttered in surprise as he watched Jameson; the family darling, start pulling every chintzy-last-second move, making him almost impossible to hit, and when he wasn’t blocking every one of the hero’s attacks, he was nailing his own.  
It was only 3 minutes before his battered character tumbled off the stage.

Bewildered, he turned to Jameson, who was smirking and shaking with silent giggles. Marvin was beside him, gaping.

“Jesus Jamie, you kicked his ass! How’d you do that?”

“You of all people should know not to give away the secrets to your magic, Marvin.”  
Jameson’s slide read, a smug grin on his face. He polished his nails on his vest with exaggerated pride.

The magician laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Fair enough.”

“Fair?! Bullshit! Chase just taught you all his cheats.” Jackie huffed, hunkering further into the couch.

Jamie turned to him with a mock gasp of offense.

“Well that’s quite an accusation Jackieboy! I would never do such a thing! Perhaps another round is in order though, if you don’t believe me?”

“Oh we’re going again, I ain’t quitting till I beat you! Cheats can’t save you from the load of whoop-ass coming your way.” He proclaimed.

Marvin snorted at the display, before impishly leaning over to the gentleman.

“Let’s destroy him. Tag team.” he whispered.

“Wh-! Wait no! You guys suck!” The hero cried as the other two shared a high five of alliance.

Despite his protest, and the unfairness of the following match, Jackie was enjoying himself. How long had it been since they had all hung out like this? Too long, that was for sure; it was amazing. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the little moments where they all just let loose together.

Maybe this whole “injured” thing was a blessing in disguise?

After a few more rounds (that Jameson mostly won), they decided to take a break.

“Well that was fun.” Marvin sighed, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.   
“At least, when I was alive it was. ”

“Heh, yeah. You really reamed us dude, gotta teach me sometime.” Jackie laughed.

Jameson giggled and nodded.  
“Indeed.”

For a while after that they lazed around, grabbing snacks, and in the end chose a movie to watch together.  
They had let Jackie pick, since he was the one stuck inside, and even though they had already seen it, it was still fun. Now they were chatting away during some of the more familiar parts.

“What even started the scuffle this morning? You were carrying on for a good while!”

“He threw his mess at me, just the typical stupid shit he usually pulls. That’s why I had to take the- woah Jackie, you good?”

The hero was wincing slightly, massaging his thumbs into his temples. 

“Yeah… jeez, you guys are starting to sound like Shneep. It’s just a little headache.”

“D’you want something for it?”

“Some advil would be great.”

Marvin stood, stretching out before starting to walk to the bathroom, sighing as he went.

“The things I do for you people…”

He made his way to the medicine cabinet, taking note of all the clutter left on the counter. In his haste earlier, Shneep hadn’t had time to clean up his supplies from earlier. The magician cringed a bit at the small pile of empty cardboard bandage spools and the half used bottle of hydrogen peroxide laying there.

“Shit Jackie, you really got it bad this time…”

He mumbled, beginning to rifle through the various bottles and little boxes for the pain meds. Unfortunately, the longer he looked, the more apparent it became that what he needed wasn’t there. After another heavy sigh, he called out to the living room.

“Hey guys, we don’t got any advil! I’m gonna go to the store!”


End file.
